Middle Park State School provides Religious Instruction (RI) as part of the Education (General Provisions) Act 2006. Students from Year 1 to Year 6 (does not include Prep) are given the option of attending half an hour of Religious Instruction once a week by accredited volunteers from approved faith groups.
Participation
Participation in RI is not compulsory.
Parents have the option of having their children attend RI classes, and this option is given when enrolling at the school on the Application for Student Enrolment Form and can be changed as students progress through the year levels; with written advice to the principal.
Children not participating in Religious Instruction
Any student not participating in Religious Instruction will receive supervision and other instruction related to subject areas covered in class. This may include:
- personal research and/or assignments
- revision of class work such as creative writing or literacy and/or numeracy activities which could include online programs currently accessed by students at school (eg Mathletics or Literacy Planet)
- wider reading such as independent reading appropriate to the student.
This is conducted at the same time as the Religious Instruction in a separate, supervised location.
Supervision in Religious Instruction
Where volunteers are available, there will be a Religious Instructor between classes for Year 1 to 6. There will also be a teacher from the school in the classroom during the lesson.
Religious Instruction Providers
Various faith groups provide accredited volunteers for the Religious Instruction program at Middle Park State School. These include:
- Darra Jindalee Catholic Parish
- Salvation Army Centenary
- St Catherine's Anglican Parish Middle Park
- Uniting Church Centenary
- Riverlife Baptist Church
- Westside Church of Christ
- St Lucia Bible Church
- Christ Community Church
- Good News Lutheran Church
- C3 17 Mile Church
- Citipointe Church West
- Vineyard Churches
- Centenary Baptist Church.
All instructors have Blue Cards.
Program Structure
Christian RI may involve a variety of up-to-date teaching methods, including storytelling, prayer, music, drama, craft, activity books, games, quizzes, video clips and puppet shows. Progam resources are written by professional educators and are age-appropriate. Lessons run for 30 minutes.
Aims and Goals
The aim of Christian RI is to inform students about the basic beliefs of the Christian faith from a non-denominational perspective.
Name of Religious Instruction Program: Connect
Titles of Books:
- Connect Infants
- Connect Lower Primary
- Connect Upper Primary
- Beginning with God.
It is agreed that:
- All approved Religious Instructors within this arrangement will only use the authorised program and materials
- The religious leaders will continue to monitor and review the program of instruction and approve the content
- Particular religious and denominational activities organised outside the school will not be advertised during RI lessons
- Religious instructors will complete Student Protection and Code of Conduct training prior to delivering the program
- All accredited representatives will have a current blue card prior to entry into a school
- All accredited representatives will be familiar with Chapter 5 s.76 and Chapter 19, s.426 (confidentiality ) of the Education (General Provisions) Act 2006
- All accredited representatives will be familiar with Part 5 and Part 9, s.67 of the Education (General Provisions) Regulation 2006.